Tehran University

Tehran University is considered to be the first university, after Dar al-Fonoon, in the contemporary history of Iran. Dar ul-Fonoon was established in 1851 by Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir. In that time, the main disciplines in this school were engineering, medicine, pharmacology, infantry, cavalry, mining. Although Dar al-Fonoon was not later developed, it built a basis and made a pattern for future university establishment in Iran in western methods. 

Tehran University was established in 1934, by the suggestion of Dr. Mahmoud Hesabi and the then ministry of culture, Dr. Ali Asghar Hekmat, and by the order of Reza Shah Pahlavi. University in the history and culture of Iran is both new and old; it is old due of the existence of a large body of knowledge in Iran related to the ancient times, according to the inscriptions and historians. Let’s go a little further and speak about 14 centuries ago; when Khosrow Anoushirvan established Gondishapour University. He improved this place in so far as it became the pole of science and literature in the world. Undoubtedly, Gondishapour University is the mother of the world’s universities. That is the oldest organization in all around the world which is currently called “University”. Nezamieh of Baghdad and Neyshabour are the next examples of a university in Iran. They were erected by the order of the Iranian-based Khajeh Nizam al-Molk who made them the most significant research and science centers in the world. 

Therefore, the concept of “university” is not a new and strange one for Iranian people. In fact, the current great universities in the world are the imitations of the Iranian universities which had been developed many years ago. Nevertheless, university can be considered a new concept in the present day in Iran, because Tehran university has been established just 87 years ago, whereas universities like Oxford and Cambridge have a 700-800 years of history. Therefore, Tehran University is a new one in comparison to the similar organizations around the world. With all this, being old or new cannot be a criterion for the evaluation of the quality of a university. 

The story of the establishment of Tehran University started from one day on March, 1934. During the cabinet meeting, on speaking about the new buildings and organizations, when everyone agreed on the flourishing of Tehran during the reign of Reza Shah, Ali Asghar Hekamt emphasized on the necessity of a university for such a flourished capital. The suggestion was immediately accepted and Shah ordered a university to be built in the same year. An amount of about 250000 Tomans was given to him for the establishment and construction of university. Accompanied by the famous French architect, Andre Godard, who was being worked for the ministry of culture in Iran, Hekamt chose the Jalalieh Garden for this purpose. It was one of the most famous gardens of Qajar, located in the north of the capital. It was exactly placed between Amir Abad village and the northern trench of Tehran. 

Jalaleh Garden was bought from its owner, who was a person named Haj Rahim, for 100000 Tomans. Godard immediately started to design, fence, construct and plan the surrounding streets. He also planned to plant the beautiful plantain seedlings. In his memories, Ali Asghar Hekmat, says: “the whole budget was spent on the purchase of lands, their leveling and tabulation. Reza Shah liked the plan and ordered the construction to be started from a school, and we decided to build the medicine college in the first place. Before that we wanted to begin the project from the center, working on the library and the large conference hall”. 

 Today, Tehran University includes these colleges: Fine Arts, Literature and Humanities, Medicine, Pharmacology, Science, Law and Political Sciences, Engineering, Environment. Other faculties like Social Sciences, Economy, Culture and Islamic Studies are placed outside the university, in the surrounding streets. 

Tehran University is restricted to Enghelab street, from the south, to Poursina, from the North, to Qods street, from the east and to 16 Azar, from the west and is located in the center of the capital.

Art University, Amirkabir University, Daneshjou Park, Theatre Shahr, Laleh Park, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Godard House, Carpet Museum and Akhavan Sales Museum are the closest attractions to Tehran University.